I'm sorry for the late reply to this, but sometimes its not easy
for me to find time to reply before the thread has moved too far
down the page.
Many people have difficulty keeping Senegal chameleons in
captivity. I have kept quite a few over the years...and once
acclimated, they did quite well. The ones that I've kept have
always come to me as WC adults so there was no real way of
telling their ages...but I have kept several for two and three
years.
The first one that I had many years ago (WC adult) survived with
me for over a year in a glass tank with a screen lid. It was
"luck" since he was my very first chameleon and there was almost
no information out there about their care at that time. I just
did what I thought was right. I kept them similar to how I keep
my veileds now (temperature, humidity, feeding, lighting, etc.)
but learned over the years that they need to be very well
hydrated. I made sure that they drank well every day
even though it sometimes took some coaxing/persistance.
I have actually found females easier to keep longer in captivity.
That's "backwards" to what is usually true for chameleons, IMHO.
With experience you can tell the sex of a Senegal at quite a
young age. The main way to tell the sex is (as with most
chameleons) by the shape of the tail just below the vent.
In addition to this the males are usually slimmer than the
females and usually not quite as green as the females. This can
be deceiving though...I have seen several males that
are just the same green as the females.
Word of warning if you do have to treat for parasites......
http://www.bioone.org/bioone/?request=get-document&issn=1042-7260&volume=032&issue=01&page=0115
Hope this helps a little.
